KEY POINTS:
The Israeli woman found dead in dense bush off the Routeburn Track was nervous heading into the trek after an ominous Tarot card reading.
Liat Okin, 35, was last seen alive leaving the Mackenzie Hut on the popular Fiordland track mid-morning of March 26.
A comprehensive 20-day police search found no trace of her.
A three-week private search that followed was in its final hours when searchers spied Okin's backpack and shoes on Thursday afternoon, leading to the discovery of the body on Friday morning in an area already searched by police.
Mystery still surrounds how the fit, young Israeli woman died. Search leader Hilik Magnus said the pack was lying open on a boulder in a creek, giving the appearance Okin had been making camp there for the night. "She organised herself to sleep there."
Queenstown temp worker Stephanye Bluwal, 25, told the Herald on Sunday Okin was nervous and ill-prepared the morning she left Queenstown for the track.
After the two women got chatting on the street on March 24, Easter Monday, Okin asked if she could stay at Bluwal's flat because the backpackers she'd tried were fully booked.
At Bluwal's flat, Okin read Bluwal's and her own Tarot cards.
"She asked what would happen on the trek, and the last card that came up said that she was going to get hurt," said Bluwal.
"She got worried, started going through her stuff and repacking."
Okin told Bluwal it would be her first overnight trek.
On the morning of her departure she asked Bluwal's boyfriend, John Brannon, to help her pack.
Discovering she didn't have a raincoat, Brannon persuaded her to hire one, and drove her to a rental store, where she also hired a billy.
Bluwal: "She wasn't very prepared. She knew she was going to get hurt."
Okin caught a bus to the track starting point at The Divide and walked into the first hut.
The Routeburn, hiked by 12,000 to 15,000 people a year, is classified as an "easy walking tramp" on the Department of Conservation website.
Notes explain the "track is generally well formed, may be steep, rough or muddy ... suitable for people with moderate fitness. Limited backcountry (remote areas) experience required."
A post mortem examination was completed yesterday in Dunedin.
PREPARATION KEY TO SURVIVAL
Tourists wanting to tramp New Zealand's notoriously changeable landscapes can help themselves by being prepared.
The warning comes from a keen tramper who was appalled to see Israeli tourists embarking on the Routeburn Track two years ago wearing street shoes and daypacks.
He also witnessed a German family arrive with an 18-month-old baby before returning to base after one night in the area.
"We were shocked. We couldn't believe how under-prepared people are and, more often than not, that contributes to them getting in strife."
Last month, the remains of retired English university lecturer Derek Hawkins were found. He went missing in March 2007 after setting off alone on a four-hour bush walk to Crucible Lake in Mt Aspiring National Park.
In January 2004, Waikato farmer and helicopter pilot Campbell Montgomerie, 27, and his English tourist passenger Hannah Timings, 28, went missing in dense Fiordland bush.
The pair were flying from Howden Hut on the Routeburn Track to Milford Sound. Two weeks of air and foot searches failed to find the wreckage.
The Alpine Sports website advises trampers to wear good hard-soled tramping boots and carry at least 1 litre of water, hat, sunscreen and a cool, long-sleeved shirt. For harder climbs, a walking pole is important, as is insect repellent.
Tell someone where you are going and when you intend to return.
And stick to the tracks.
- Rebecca Milne
